The University of Edinburgh is offering scholarships to support Black African and Caribbean heritage applicants from socio-economically challenged backgrounds across the UK. The scholarships are made possible by a gift from the family of the late Andrea Levy (1956-2019), the internationally bestselling author whose work explored the connected histories of Britain and Jamaica.
The Andrea Levy Scholarships were established in 2020 in memory of multi-award winning novelist, Andrea Levy. Born in London to Jamaican parents, Ms Levy held longstanding family and personal links to Edinburgh and to Scotland, and the University of Edinburgh is honoured to contribute to her legacy by hosting this scholarship programme.
The Scholarship is designed to help with living expenses, and to fully cover tuition fees, throughout a student’s undergraduate degree.
The application deadline is Friday 14th April 2023.
Benefits
The Scholarship will cover:
o Tuition fees and a stipend of £5,000 per annum to help with living expenses
The Scholarship is tenable for the duration of a student’s programme of study, which is typically 4 years, but can be longer. This award does not affect eligibility for an Access Edinburgh Scholarship (£1,000 – £5,000 per annum, depending on an individual’s circumstances), and both awards can be held at the same time. The total available towards living expenses is therefore up to £10,000 for every year of your course.
Note: The full cost of tuition fees, which for most ‘rest of UK’ students is £9,250 per annum, will be covered by the scholarship. If you are resident in Scotland your fees will be covered by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).
Eligibility Criteria
To be considered for this scholarship, applicants must:
o Have one of the following categories of ethnicity: Black Caribbean; Black African; Black Other; Mixed – White/Black Caribbean; Mixed – White /Black African; or Other mixed background that includes Caribbean heritage. The scheme particularly encourages applicants with any form of Caribbean heritage to apply.
o Be starting a first undergraduate full time degree programme at the University of Edinburgh in the 2023-24 academic year.
o Have been assessed for fee status as a ‘home’ student (meaning that you ordinarily live in Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland), and
o Have a household income £34,000 per annum.
Assessment
Applications will be assessed against the following measures:
o Household income – Priority will be given to applicants whose household income is assessed as £23,999 or less. Applicants with a household income of between £24,000 and £33,900 may also apply.
o An application statement of between 600 and 900 words explaining:
> What achievements, academically and/or personally, you are most proud of. This could include overcoming a challenging personal circumstance. There is no right or wrong answer, they are keen to hear your story.
> Why the scholarship would be beneficial to your studies and how it would help you to achieve your academic goals.
> How your education would be of future benefit to your community and/or society.
o Other factors – any other personal or academic circumstances that could have influenced or impacted applicants in their education to date may be taken into account during assessment.
For more information, please visit the Andrea Levy Scholarship website. The deadline for applications for a scholarship is Friday 14th April 2023.
